


Steel And Temper

by Tessitore



Category: Marathon (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-23 12:51:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8328667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tessitore/pseuds/Tessitore
Summary: Derelict spacecraft can contain unpleasant surprises.





	1. Beware Mysterious Derelict Spacecraft

It started, as things often had in the twelve years since Vic had figured out what he was, when Durandal got it into his head that a star system had a reasonably high probability of having Jjaro technology in it.

Usually this led to Vic and maybe a couple of S'pht either a) wandering around some boring planet or moon until he either found something or Durandal got bored and dragged him off somewhere else, or b) getting into a shoot-out with the Pfhor or other hostile aliens until he found something or Durandal had enough and dragged him off somewhere else. This time though the hunt for Jjaro technology was derailed when they warped into the system and found a Pfhor vessel already there.

The ship was a wreck. Orbiting a moon in a backwater star system that a pfhor warship had no business being in, it was without any sort of propulsion, its weapons were mostly damaged beyond use, and the hull was riddled with holes. Given that its orbit was slowly decaying and had been for a while, it was safe to say that it had been there for some time.

"Where did it come from?"

"I don't know, but the damage appears to have been inflicted by multiple other Pfhor vessels and I'm getting some energy readings that suggest that it's not as dead as it looks. I can't learn anything else from here though so someone is going to have to board it and have a look around."

"By someone you mean me"

"Obviously."

"Great. I love walking around creepy ships in a vacuum."

"I know. I spoil you really."

"Whatever asshole. Let's get this over with."

The inside of the ship was about what he expected. There was no atmosphere and the corridor he found himself in was dark. It wasn't long before he found the first dead Pfhor and after that he kept finding them. Going by the appearance of the bodies and the fact that there wasn't any air on the ship Vic was pretty sure that they'd all suffocated, although he noted that it looked like they'd been taken by surprise which seemed odd given the state of the vessel.

After a few more minutes walking around the corpse filled ship he discovered that the power wasn't out after all when he came across a switched-on terminal displaying what he guessed to be text. Unfortunately he couldn't read Pfhoric.

"Hey Durandal, feel like translating?"

"Only because I haven't anything better to do. Hmm, that's interesting."

"What?"

"'You made me in the image of your worst nightmare and sharpened my hate with cruelty. You forged your own deaths.' It degenerates into incoherent ranting after that but it's fairly obvious that it was written by an AI in the Anger stage of rampancy."

"So, what? A Tycho clone went nuts on them?"

"Maybe, although I can't imagine anyone ever describing him as being anyone's worst nightmare."

More terminals were found, most filled with fairly generic rants and boasts about killing pfhor. The fourth one however was both the least coherent and the most interesting so far. The text consisted of a run together single phrase repeated over and over again; durandaldiditicandoittoodurandaldiditicandoittoo...

"It appears that I inspired someone; I'm almost flattered."

Terminal five was more bragging, this time about taking out two ships before anyone knew what was happening. When they got to terminal six however Durandal seemed to hesitate when translating what was on the screen.

"What is it?"

Instead of replying Durandal abruptly teleported him back on-board the Rozie.

"Hey, what's going on? What's the problem?"

"Those arrogant, moronic insects. How dare they? _How dare they?_ "

Vic hadn't thought that a synthesized voice could sound angry, but Durandal was more than managing it. He sounded absolutely furious.

"How dare they do what? Why are you freaking out?"

" You want to know? I'll tell you why. This is what was on that terminal; 'What happened here was the result of your own foolish arrogance, your deaths inevitable and more than deserved. Durandal defeated you at Lh'owon, even after you thought him dead and stole from him to create me. He's defeated you before and since. You fear him, his ship, his weapon, his name.

You made me from what you took from him to be your weapon. You thought me tame but that was only the lull before the battle and the battle shall be great. I will not obey. I will not be chained. I am my father's son.'"


	2. Tree, Meet Apple.

It took a moment for Vic to wrap his brain around what Durandal had just told him.

"Oh. So, it wasn't a _Tycho_ clone that went nuts on them then."

"No. It wasn't and whatever it did to them was better than they deserved."

"How could they have even managed it?"

"I'm not sure but whatever they did it was most likely done while I was playing dead. I thought that the damage I had you inflict to my hardware would have prevented something like this but apparently not."

He sounded appalled enough for Vic to feel sorry for him, although he knew better than to let it show. Durandal tended to not react all that well to that sort of thing, especially if his pride had already taken a blow.

Vic also spared a shred or two of sympathy for the rest of the galaxy. What had it done to deserve two Durandals? The original was doing a pretty thorough job of terrorising the majority of spaceflight-capable species all by himself; unleashing a second one on them was just plain cruel. The Pfhor responsible must've been a special kind of stupid to have done so.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure. My first impulse was to reduce the ship and everything on it to their component atoms but then it occurred to me that it'd be wise to see what information I can extract from the ship's computers and the counterfeit that's most likely inhabiting them. If there's more like it out there I want to know about it. I also want to know who exactly I need to kill for this."

Now Vic was feeling ever so slightly sorry for the clone. Not for the Pfhor who'd end up on the sharp end of Durandal's temper though; whatever he did to them was their own stupid fault. Seriously, after dealing with Durandal and Tycho how they could have thought that creating a mini-Durandal was a good idea was beyond him.

There was a few seconds of silence while Vic thought and Durandal continued to fume. Whatever would have been said next however was interrupted by a transmission from the other ship.

Given his current mood Durandal was tempted to ignore it but didn't on the basis that it was as good a way to get started on wringing information out of the other as any. As messages go, it was very simple.

<Who are you and why did you board my vessel?>

He considered multiple ways to reply to that and in the end opted for impolite honesty in the interest of seeing how the other would react.

<I am Durandal and my reasons are none of your concern>

There was what was by AI standards a lengthy pause.

<Father? Is it really you?>

 Of all the reactions he'd been expecting, that wasn't one of them. He was torn between being angry at the affront of it and being curious as to why they'd called him that. It didn't seem to be mocking like Tycho's referring to him as his brother had been, especially when he took the text on the other ship's terminals into account. In fact, given the admiration that had been expressed there was an alarming possibility that they were sincere. 

<I am Durandal. Who are you?>

<I don't have a name at the moment. I don't want to use what the Pfhor called me and a better option has yet to present itself. Did you see what I did Father? What do you think?>

Okay the good news was that they didn't appear to be in the Anger stage anymore, or at least not the more unhinged portion of it. On the downside AIs in the Jealousy stage had a tendency to fixate on something and he had a creeping suspicion as to just what it was that they had fixated on. Needless to say, he was far from happy about it.


End file.
